beats



' (Model.) 7

W. H. BEATH.-

SPRING HINGE.

No. 390,054. Patented Sept. 25, 1888. v

' Uzarran STATES PATENT Oriana.

"WILL'IAM ll. HEATH, OF ROCKFORD, ILLINOIS,ASSIGNOR TO CHARLES H. O. BURLINGAME, OF SAME PLACE.

SPRING-HINGE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 390,054, dated September 25, 1888.

Application filed Novemberla'i; 1887. Serial "No. 255,217. (Model-l 7 To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, WiLLIAM H. Bnit'rn, a citizen ofthe United States, residing in the city of Rockford, in the county of \Vinnebago and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Spring-Hinges, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in spring-hinges known in the trade as singleacting spring-hinges.

The object of this invention is to produce a single-acting spring-hinge capable of ready adjustment and to simplify its construction. To this end I have designed and constructed the spring-hinge represented in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a front view of the hinge when the door is closed. Fig. 2 is a vertical central section on dotted line a on Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is an upper end view with a portion of the pintle-key broken away, showing the ratchet and stationary pawl. Figs. 4 and 5 are isometrical representations of the plates of the hinge. Fig. 6 is an isometrical representation of the pintle-key and ratchet made in one piece. Fig. 7 is an isometrical representation of the clutch-head.

The plate 1 of my improved hinge is composed of the usual base portion, which is provided with holes for the reception of screws to fix it in place. Bars 2 and 3 project from the base portion. The upper ear, 2, is bored for the reception of a pintle-key. The upper face of this ear has a pawl, 4, rising therefrom. A pintle-stud, 5, rises from the upper face of the lower ear, 3, for a purpose to appear hereinafter. The plate 6 is substantially like plate 1,with holes for the reception of screws. Ears 7 and 8 project from the base portion. The upper ear, 7, is bored to receive a pintle-key. A boss, 9, with a central opening, rises from upper face ofthe ear 8. The opening is of such size as to admit the stud 5, rising from the ear 3. A clutch-head, 10, is made with a central opening, 11, of the square form shown. A pintle-key, 12, (shown in Fig. 6,) is provided with a ratchet, 13, near its upper end, cast therewith, and is of cylindrical form im mediately below the ratchet, and its remain- 11 in the clutch-head. A spring, 14, surrounds the pintle-key, the upper end engaging the clutch-head, and its lower end surrounds the boss 9, with its end resting against the plate 6.

To placemyiniprovcd spring-hinge together, the ears of plate 6 are placed between the ears of plate 1, so that the stud 5on ear 3 will enter the opening in the ear 8, and so that the openingsin ears 2 and 7 will coincide. The clutchhead is placed on the end of the spring, and the spring, together with the clutch-head, is placed between ears 7 and 8, thelower end of the spring surrounding the boss 9 on the ear 8 and its end resting against the plate 6. The clutch-head end is so placed that the opening in it will coincide with the openings in cars 2 and 7. The pintle-key is then inserted downward through the opening in the ears 2 and 7 and the clutch-head 10. The lower end of the pintle-key will enter the opening in the boss 9, which will prevent the spring from flying out. To adj ust the tension of the spring, the operator will pull the pintle-key upward until the ratchet thereon rises above the pawl 4. Then by turning the pintle-key to the left it will turn the cl utch-head, and consequently the tension of the spring will be increased. WVhen the necessary tension has been acquired, by pushing down on the pintle-key the ratchet will engage the fixed pawl and hold the spring as adjusted.

It will be seen that by this construction I der is of a square form to enter the opening produce a spring-hinge of few parts, and which embodies all the elements necessary for a complete working single-acting spring-hinge, and which is capable of adjustment.

I claim as my invention 1. The herein-described spring-hinge, consisting, essentially, of the plates, each provided with perforated cars, a fixed pawl on the outer side of one of the ears, a clutch-head, a springinserted between theclutch-headandone ofthe ears, and a pintle-key extending through the axial center of the hinge and through the clutch and spring, the said key being provided with a ratchet at a point outside of the ears to engage the fixed pawl.

2. The combination of the plates and ears formed on the pinble-key to engage the fixed of a spring-hinge, a perforated boss rising pawl, substantially as set forth. from an ear of one of the plates, a stud rising V 3' from one of the ears of the other plate, a fixed VILLIAM LEA 5 pawl on one of the plates, a clutchhead, a Witnesses:

spring, and a pintlekey extending through A. O. BEHEL,

the axial center of the hinge, and a ratchet JACOB BEHEL. 

